Journal: bioRxiv
Article Title: Injury-induced tau pathology promotes aggressive behavior in Drosophila without neurodegeneration
doi: 10.1101/2025.11.22.689595
Figure Lengend Snippet: Pan-neuronal human tau Experimental setup for collection and administration of injury to Drosophila virgin males. Days indicate post-eclosion. All experiments were conducted at 24 hours post-injury. B. Representative max projection images of whole brain immunohistochemistry using an antibody against human tau in UAS-Tau (control) and Elav-GAL4>UAS-Tau male flies for sham and injury conditions. Scale bars: 50 μm. C. Quantification of the percent of male flies with the indicated genotype and injury condition that climb 16 cm within 10, 15, and 20 sec in a negative geotaxis assay (n=8 trials ) . For UAS-Tau sham vs. UAS-Tau injury at 10, 15, and 20 seconds post-startle: p =0.0010, 0.0252, and 0.2415, respectively; UAS-Tau sham vs. Elav-GAL4>UAS-Tau sham at 10, 15, and 20 seconds post-startle, p <0.0001, p =0.0756, and p =0.1179, respectively; UAS-Tau injury vs. Elav-GAL4>UAS-Tau injury at 10, 15, and 20 seconds post-startle, p< 0.0001, 0.0219, and 0.0742, respectively; Elav-GAL4>UAS-Tau sham vs. Elav-GAL4>UAS-Tau injury at 10, 15, and 20 seconds post-startle, p= 0.0769, 0.2951, and 0.5091, respectively. D-F. Noncompetitive courtship assays for UAS-Tau sham and injury male flies and Elav-GAL4>UAS-Tau sham and injury male flies (n=11, 9, 20, and 12 mating groups, respectively, from 3 independent trials). D. Quantification of the percent of fly pairs that mated within 2 hours. For UAS-Tau sham vs. UAS-Tau injury p= 0.4212; UAS-Tau sham vs. Elav-GAL4>UAS-Tau sham p= 0.0284; UAS-Tau injury vs. Elav-GAL4>UAS-Tau injury p= 0.6060; Elav-GAL4>UAS-Tau sham vs. Elav-GAL4>UAS-Tau injury p= 0.0724; UAS-Tau injury vs. Elav-GAL4>UAS-Tau sham p= 0.0297. E. Quantification of latency time to copulation. For UAS-Tau sham vs. UAS-Tau injury p= 0.5777; UAS-Tau sham vs. Elav-GAL4>UAS-Tau sham p= 0.0018; UAS-Tau injury vs. Elav-GAL4>UAS-Tau injury p= 0.0028; Elav-GAL4>UAS-Tau sham vs. Elav-GAL4>UAS-Tau injury p= 0.8435; UAS-Tau sham vs. Elav-GAL4>UAS-Tau injury p= 0.0074. F. Quantification of time to first wing extension by the male fly. UAS-Tau sham vs. UAS-Tau injury p= 0.2640; UAS-Tau sham vs. Elav-GAL4>UAS-Tau sham p <0.0001; UAS-Tau injury vs. Elav-GAL4>UAS-Tau injury p= 0.0014; Elav-GAL4>UAS-Tau sham vs. Elav-GAL4>UAS-Tau injury p= 0.5784; UAS-Tau sham vs. Elav-GAL4>UAS-Tau injury p= 0.0045. G-N. Competitive courtship assays for UAS-Tau sham and injury male flies and Elav-GAL4>UAS-Tau sham and injury male flies (n=38, 27, 30, and 25 groups, respectively, from 10 independent trials). G. Quantification of percent of flies that mated within 2 hours. For UAS-Tau sham vs. UAS-Tau injury p= 0.1109; UAS-Tau sham vs. Elav-GAL4>UAS-Tau sham p= 0.4648; UAS-Tau injury vs. Elav-GAL4>UAS-Tau injury p= 0.2659; Elav-GAL4>UAS-Tau sham vs. Elav-GAL4>UAS-Tau injury p= 0.0639. H. Quantification of latency time to copulation. For UAS-Tau sham vs. UAS-Tau injury p= 0.1535; UAS-Tau sham vs. Elav-GAL4>UAS-Tau sham p= 0.0175; UAS-Tau injury vs. Elav-GAL4>UAS-Tau injury p= 0.7599; Elav-GAL4>UAS-Tau sham vs. Elav-GAL4>UAS-Tau injury p= 0.0002. I. Quantification of time to first wing extension by the male fly. For UAS-Tau sham vs. UAS-Tau injury p= 0.6975; UAS-Tau sham vs. Elav-GAL4>UAS-Tau sham p= 0.0034; UAS-Tau injury vs. Elav-GAL4>UAS-Tau injury p= 0.0321; Elav-GAL4>UAS-Tau sham vs. Elav-GAL4>UAS-Tau injury p= 0.0942. J. Quantification of the total number of aggressive acts exhibited by male flies within the 10-minute window prior to copulation. For UAS-Tau sham vs. UAS-Tau injury p= 0.7363; UAS-Tau sham vs. Elav-GAL4>UAS-Tau sham p= 0.3929; UAS-Tau injury vs. Elav-GAL4>UAS-Tau injury p= 0.0968; Elav-GAL4>UAS-Tau sham vs. Elav-GAL4>UAS-Tau injury p= 0.0045; UAS-Tau sham vs. Elav-GAL4>UAS-Tau injury p= 0.0271. K. Quantification of the time spent engaged in aggressive acts by male flies in the 10-minute window prior to copulation. UAS-Tau sham vs. UAS-Tau injury p= 0.7200; UAS-Tau sham vs. Elav-GAL4>UAS-Tau sham p= 0.3294; UAS-Tau injury vs. Elav-GAL4>UAS-Tau injury p= 0.0013; Elav-GAL4>UAS-Tau sham vs. Elav-GAL4>UAS-Tau injury p= 0.0005; UAS-Tau sham vs. Elav-GAL4>UAS-Tau injury p< 0.0001. L. Representative images of a wing pull act. Genders are indicated. Arrowheads indicate wing being pulled. M. Quantification of the total number of wing pulls by male flies in the 10-minute window prior to copulation. For UAS-Tau sham vs. UAS-Tau injury p= 0.1660; UAS-Tau sham vs. Elav-GAL4>UAS-Tau sham p= 0.0434; UAS-Tau injury vs. Elav-GAL4>UAS-Tau injury p= 0.0016; Elav-GAL4>UAS-Tau sham vs. Elav-GAL4>UAS-Tau injury p= 0.0032; UAS-Tau sham vs. Elav-GAL4>UAS-Tau injury p< 0.0001. N. Quantification of the time engaged in wing pulling by male flies in the 10-minute window prior to copulation. For UAS-Tau sham vs. UAS-Tau injury p= 0.5070; UAS-Tau sham vs. Elav-GAL4>UAS-Tau sham p= 0.0753; UAS-Tau injury vs. Elav-GAL4>UAS-Tau injury p= 0.0005; Elav-GAL4>UAS-Tau sham vs. Elav-GAL4>UAS-Tau injury p= 0.0025; UAS-Tau sham vs. Elav-GAL4>UAS-Tau injury p< 0.0001. Two-sided unpaired Student’s t -tests were used to determine all p -values. For d-n graphs, all datapoints are plotted with lines indicating means ± s.d.
Article Snippet: cDNA for full-length human tau was previously purchased from Addgene (16316). cDNA for Drosophila tau was purchased from the Drosophila Genomics Resource Center (RE16764).
Techniques: Immunohistochemistry, Control